Fig. 4: Therapeutic DR3 treatment ameliorates established type 2 diabetes in Rag2^−/− mice.

a A cohort of Rag2^−/− mice were placed on HFD for 14 weeks. After 8 weeks of diet, mice were subjected to intraperitoneal treatments with either DR3 agonist (1 mg/mouse) or isotype control once every four days as indicated in the timeline, n = 8 mice. b Total weights were measured once a week, and c the fasting blood glucose levels were measured once every 2 weeks for a period of 14 weeks. d Plasma insulin concentrations were determined using ELISA. e Glucose tolerance test and f insulin tolerance test were performed at the end of the treatments. g Hematoxylin and eosin-stained epididymal adipose tissue sections (×400, scale bars, 100 μm). The mean adipocyte area (h) and numbers (i) in VAT were quantified at the end of 14 weeks. The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated for each cohort. Error bars are representative of the mean ± SD. Statistical analysis, one-way ANOVA (b, c), two-way ANOVA (e, f), two-tailed student’s t-test (d, h, i). Mouse image provided with permission from Servier Medical Art.